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"Yes, the shipping address is Fuyuki City. Besides that Tiger tank, I'll also need a fighter jet—preferably something with air-to-ground capabilities—and if it's logistically possible, a full truckload of surface-to-surface missiles. Oh, and please deliver the rocket launchers to this secondary address as well..."
In Max's design for the Holy Grail War setting, America was an extremely "free and democratic" nation—perhaps even more so than reality.
Therefore, within the game's American territories, players could purchase absolutely absurd quantities of military-grade weaponry through certain underground Magus connections and black market dealers.
This perfectly solved Emiya Kiritsugu's fundamental gameplay problem: having access to many types of weapons in theory, but never quite having enough ammunition or firepower to feel comfortable in actual combat.
However, seeing Max's character now carrying a military tactical backpack absolutely stuffed with firearms, plus two additional heavy duffel bags filled with various explosive devices—
The chat simply couldn't contain themselves.
[InsufficientFirepower]: OH MY GOD, THE FEAR OF INSUFFICIENT FIREPOWER IS REAL!
[GoodHeavens]: Wait, Emiya Kiritsugu can be played like THIS?! This is a viable build?!
[ModernWeapons]: This is clearly designed to let Servants experience the absolute SHOCK of modern military hardware!
[Balance]: But if that's the case, isn't this way too much of a buff for characters who can travel internationally?
[Counter]: Buff my ass. Some characters have home-field advantages too. What if your character is powerful abroad? The enemy can just blockade your airport—how are you supposed to fight then?
[ServantProblem]: Max, Max—I'll admit this personal arsenal is genuinely terrifying, but how are you planning to solve the Servant summoning problem?
Watching the chat surge with questions, Max finished equipping himself with as many weapons as physically possible, cracked his left knuckles for dramatic effect, and smiled at the camera.
"The Servant summoning problem is actually pretty straightforward to solve once you understand the game's mechanics.
In Holy Grail War, there's a fundamental concept called 'home-field advantage' or 'territorial bonuses.'
This means that depending on the different ley lines and spiritual energy of the land itself, heroes from different regions and cultures receive varying levels of statistical buffs.
For example, on Japanese soil, Japanese Heroic Spirits will have a certain degree of combat effectiveness enhancement—better mana regeneration, slightly boosted parameters, that sort of thing.
Correspondingly, when you perform a summoning ritual on Japanese land, you're also significantly more likely to summon Japanese heroes specifically, because the ley lines naturally resonate with their spiritual origins.
So if you want to attempt a 'random' summoning with better odds of getting something specific, you can travel to the country or region where your desired hero originated. This dramatically increases your success rate for summoning them.
Therefore, my next travel destination is Greece—the birthplace of Western heroic epics.
At the same time, regarding power balance for player characters, I've also made certain critical modifications based on feedback.
Kenneth's Magic Furnace Mystic Code was admittedly way too overpowered in its original implementation, so I've set it to only substitute for three uses of magecraft maximum per match.
Of course, large-scale water manipulation spells like his signature 'Moon Spirit Marrow Fluid' attacks still count as a single use despite their power.
Additionally, to make it more convenient for all players to actively monitor their magical energy resources, I've added a visible mana bar to each player character's HUD.
The Emiya Kiritsugu build we're currently using has C-rank magic circuits, which translates to a total pool of 100 mana points.
Maintaining a manifested Servant costs 1 mana point per hour passively. Active combat operations require 10 mana points as a baseline. And activating Noble Phantasms requires varying amounts depending on the Noble Phantasm's rank and scale—anywhere from 20 to 80 mana points for the really big ones.
Honestly, it's easier to understand once we actually get into combat. Just talking about numbers is boring.
However, I won't be implementing visible health bars for characters.
Because, as we all know: people die when they are killed. Everyone should just follow realistic damage logic.
If you do something monumentally stupid, even if your opponent doesn't actively attack you, you might still get sent to another world by a random truck driving past on the highway."
[GoodChange]: Holy shit, this change is FANTASTIC! I could never properly manage my mana before, but now I can see it intuitively!
[Forgiven]: Max temporarily loses the "old bastard" title and regains "Daddy Max" status.
[Callout]: So @GooseCorpGames @CompetitorStudios, what EXACTLY have you been doing?! A one-man indie studio solved this many UX problems in two or three days. What's your excuse?!
[Superman]: Max is literally Superman. That's an INSANE amount of programming work to complete in such a short timeframe.
[Redefine]: Can we please redefine "small indie workshop"? This is absurd.
[Isekai]: Good lord, if I really got sent to another world by a truck, I'd honestly love to go to the Holy Grail War universe.
[Reality]: And then immediately get murdered by Ashiya Douman as a random civilian bystander, right?
[GasExplosion]: No no no, you'd probably die in the first gas leak explosion. After all, Fuyuki City has some serious infrastructure problems.
Watching the chat's increasingly unhinged speculation, Max boarded the international transfer flight in-game.
The preparation time for Ranked Mode wasn't nearly as generous as normal Story Mode—only one hour total.
But fortunately, Max only needed to visit two locations, and he still had over half an hour remaining. That would be sufficient.
So while selectively answering interesting questions from the chat, Max also began explaining which Heroic Spirit he intended to summon.
"The Heroic Spirit I'm planning to target is actually Jason—yes, Jason of the Argonauts.
He's the same Servant that Maverick summoned in that match, the one you all collectively decided was 'the weakest Saber-class Heroic Spirit in existence.'
Actually, although Jason's base stats are relatively mediocre compared to other Saber-class Servants, his Noble Phantasm is incredibly powerful when used correctly.
To put it simply: he can summon almost all of the famous heroes from Greek mythology as temporary support.
Maverick got sniped with a headshot before Jason could even activate his Noble Phantasm properly, which is why Jason's reputation got somewhat unfairly tarnished.
But if Jason is utilized well—if you actually survive long enough to activate his abilities—he's effectively equivalent to a multi-class composite Heroic Spirit. In the constantly shifting tactical landscape of the Holy Grail War, he can be considered an extremely versatile all-rounder with incredible adaptability.
Of course, whether I actually manage to summon him is a completely different question. The gacha is cruel and unforgiving.
Anyway, let's take a stroll by the Aegean coastline and see what happens."
[Strong]: Wait, Jason is actually THAT strong?! I genuinely thought he was just comic relief!
[Pattern]: I've noticed a pattern—the strongest Servants are basically all summoners or have summoning-type abilities.
[Maverick]: Alas, Maverick really did him dirty with that match~
[Encyclopedia]: As expected from the developer—it's OP to have the Heroic Spirit encyclopedia wide open. You can target-summon whoever you want!
[Request]: Max, when are you adding an in-game Heroic Spirit encyclopedia feature? So players can look up abilities? Right now when I see an opponent it's like I'm completely blind!
[Mystery]: The unknown IS the fun of Holy Grail War, okay? If you knew everything about every Servant, wouldn't matches get boring?
[Showoff]: Composite Heroic Spirit summoning... is Max about to show off his game knowledge?
Although Max intended to summon Jason, he genuinely wasn't sure what the gacha would actually give him.
After all, Greece's hero pool was absurdly broad—it was literally the birthplace of Western epic poetry and heroic legend.
With a single summoning attempt, it was entirely possible he might pull someone like Heracles—arguably the single most powerful hero in all of Greek mythology.
If Heracles wasn't locked into the Berserker class with reduced mental capacity, he would be virtually unstoppable.
Hell, even summoning Orion would be excellent.
And if the Moon Goddess Artemis was willing to hijack Orion's summoning and descend using his Saint Graph as a vessel—which she sometimes did in Fate lore—that would be even better.
Here goes nothing, Max thought as he began chanting the summoning incantation.
But the moment he started speaking the words aloud, the chat immediately lost their collective minds.
"Listen up!" (Declaration)
"I'm giving you mana, you work for me!" (Your body rests under my command; my fate rests upon your blade.)
"Hey, whoever got kidnapped by the Holy Grail and can hear me—if you mostly agree with this deal, give me a shout..." (Respond to the summons of the Holy Grail! Those who would obey this will and reason, answer my call!)
"Fair warning: I might do good things, or I might not, after I summon you. No promises." (I am the one who embodies all virtue in this world; I am the one who embodies all vice in this world.)
"I've got three Command Seals. Listen to me for seven days, and after that, do whatever you want." (Seven days bound by the three great words of power!)
"I'm not reimbursing your travel expenses to get here—you'll have to figure that out yourself... These are the terms. No hidden clauses. Final interpretation rights belong to the Holy Grail." (Transcend the Wheel of Deterrence and appear, O Guardian of the Scales!)
[WhatAreYouSaying]: WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?!
[Rustic]: Why can you chant such an EPIC and COOL summoning ritual in the most TRASHY, UNPOETIC way imaginable?!
[Contract]: What kind of black-hearted sweatshop unequal labor contract is THIS?!
[Correct]: The meaning is technically correct, but it feels SO WRONG!
[Lamppost]: Max, you OLD BASTARD, you truly are the person most deserving of being hung on a lamppost!
[Kidnapped]: "Kidnapped by the Holy Grail" is the most accurate description I've ever heard!
[Scam]: This is literally a scam targeting dead people!
Those who'd actually paid attention to the story mode knew full well that for Heroic Spirits, the Holy Grail War was fundamentally a massive scam.
Except for a certain old director-type character who showed genuine honor and righteousness, basically every other Magus Master fully intended to force their Servants to commit suicide after achieving victory.
But Max still had some conscience, at least.
So as Max uttered the final words of the summoning incantation, brilliant white mist began rising from the center of the glowing blue magic circle.
However, the expected golden-haired, charismatic Jason did not appear.
Instead, a gloomy, hooded woman materialized from the magical fog—her presence immediately radiating an aura of dangerous unpredictability.
"Oh my... are you my Master?"
She pushed back her hood slightly, revealing sharp, calculating eyes.
"You truly have such an... unlovable face. But I suppose it doesn't matter."
She gave a small, theatrical curtsy.
"I am the Witch of Betrayal, Medea of Colchis. Caster-class Servant, answering your summon."
Max stared at the screen.
Well, he thought. This is either going to go extremely well or extremely poorly. There is no in-between with Medea.
[MEDEA]: HOLY SHIT IT'S MEDEA!
[Witch]: THE WITCH! THE ACTUAL WITCH OF COLCHIS!
[Betrayal]: This is either the best or worst possible outcome!
[Yandere]: Max just summoned a yandere. RIP.
[ThisIsFine]: Everything is fine. This is fine.
It was, in fact, not fine.
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